At how fast the headlines broke out, Zhao Lifei felt as if she did not need to hold a banquet anymore. Plastered on multiple magazines were headlines that spoiled the purpose of the dinner in the first place.

  "Founder of the rising investment firm, Feili, is none other than socialite Zhao Lifei!"

  "The investment firm taking the country by storm, Feili’s CEO is Zhao Lifei!"

  "Hidden CEO of Feili has been discovered to be Zhao Lifei."

  "Socialite turned CEO: Zhao Lifei."

  "Following the footsteps of her CEO grandfather, socialite Zhao Lifei reported as CEO."

  Oddly enough, the magazine headlines were all very positive. None of them stated anything relatively bad about her, nor did they mention her past with Zheng Tianyi. Zhao Lifei had a feeling about who forcefully filtered the magazine headlines.

  In her newly renovated office, she was seated on a large and comfortable cushion leather chair. Swiveling around, she flipped through the magazine with an entertained expression on her face. These journalism companies must’ve been too terrified to go against Yang Feng, especially when he did not hesitate at the idea of bankrupting previous news companies.

  Zhao Lifei’s phone was blowing up with messages ever since her morning with her grandfather. She did not pay attention to any of her shameless relatives who only made themselves known today. The people that used to heavily criticize her, the aunts and uncles who backstabbed her, and the cousins who chose Zheng Tianyi and Xia Mengxi’s side — everyone was approaching her now. There was so much bootlicking going on, her endless array of shoes was as good as new.

  Her eyes scanned the spacious office in front of her. She gave Wei Hantao’s office to Huo Qiudong who had redecorated the room, tossed out everything owned by Wei Hantao, and expanded it.

  Speaking of the former secretary, Zhao Lifei realized it would be a good idea to begin interviewing people to fill in the position. She had not heard from Long Xuebi, Wei Hantao’s previous secretary, for a while now. Even after texting and emailing her, the woman was a no show. It would not be a bad idea though…… Who knows if she was in cahoots with Wei Hantao and his schemes. She had not heard from him ever since she tossed him into the trash. He must’ve disappeared somewhere, or perhaps he was lurking in the shadows. Either way, she was on high alert.

  Shaking her head to get rid of him, Zhao Lifei decided to start on the mountain of paperwork before her. Her nose wrinkled in boredom as she picked up the first packet and a pen. Aside from paperwork, her schedule was jam-packed with meetings scheduled by Wei Hantao a while back. It did not take long for the sun to set in the west, and the moon to appear.

  After placing her jacket on and grabbing her purse, Zhao Lifei made her way to Huo Qiudong’s office. She did not bother knocking when she waltzed through the door and saw that he was still working hard. He was concentrating too hard on his computer to even realize the soft click of the door. His brows were scrunched together, lines creasing on his forehead, and his fingers were flying across the keyboard at an impressive pace.

  Zhao Lifei stood by the door, watching the workaholic in the making. She checked the clock on the wall and saw it was seven o’clock. She felt her throat run dry at the time and checked on her phone. She had set it on "do not disturb" this morning so that she was not disturbed by the notifications from her obnoxious relatives. Sure enough, she saw the missed calls from Yang Feng.

  ’Uh-oh.’


  "You should head home now. Almost everyone has left the office." Zhao Lifei piped up, slipping her phone into her purse.

  Huo Qiudong’s head snapped up, his shoulders jumping a bit. He did not expect to see her here, so late at night. He expected her to be one of the first employees to head home. "I was just finishing the management reports for tomorrow."

  Zhao Lifei walked over to his large oakwood desk and picked up a paper beside him. "You didn’t do any of your paperwork?"

  "No, I already finished the ones for today and tomorrow. These are for the day after tomorrow."

  Zhao Lifei blinked. Definitely a workaholic in the making. "Why are you so hardworking?" She incredulously asked, placing the paper into place. She stepped to the coathanger. "Don’t answer that." She said, grabbing the grey trench coat and briefcase.

  "When do you usually leave the office?" She questioned, placing the briefcase beside him and ushering him to stand.

  Huo Qiudong felt awkward that she was dressing him like a mother. He gently took the coat from her hand and placed it on himself, buttoning it up. "On average, around 9 PM." He reluctantly picked up his briefcase and placed it on his desk. He began to place the paperwork into the bag.

  Zhao Lifei was taken aback by his words. "Won’t your girlfriend feel lonely if you return so late every night?" She slapped his hand away and took out the paperwork he planned on bringing home. "You can do these tomorrow! Stop being such an overachiever." She huffed, zipping up the bag and shoving it into his arm. She pushed him towards the door.

  "I don’t have a girlfriend." Huo Qiudong curtly replied, opening the door and stepping outside. He wondered why she was behaving more like an older sister than a CEO. He knew she was friendly, but he did not think it would be to such an extent.

  "Oh, is that so." Zhao Lifei suspiciously replied, smiling as they walked to the elevators. "Is there anyone you have your eyes set upon?"

  Huo Qiudong nearly tripped over his feet. He coughed and scratched the back of his head, awkwardly glancing at the stunning woman beside him. Even her side profile was perfect. Was she implying something……? He gulped. Not wanting to suffer the wrath of Yang Feng, he blurted out, "I-I don’t want to be a sideman."

  Zhao Lifei froze before she let out a burst of laughter. "I’m not courting you!" She chuckled, slapping him on the shoulder. "Besides, you’re not my type." She mused, pressing the elevator button and then stepping inside.

  "O-oh." He flushed, the light pink blush spreading to his ears. He felt like beating himself up for thinking so weirdly. Of course, she was not asking him to be the other man. With Yang Feng’s bipolar personalities, he was pretty sure she had her hands full with him.

  He thought about her words. "Well then, I prefer quiet women—"

  "But you’re so quiet as well." Zhao Lifei interrupted, confused at his words. Two quiet people? She wondered if they would even have a conversation.

  "I prefer someone like me." Huo Qiudong hated to admit it, but aside from the two girls he dated in his youth, he had never considered any other woman. He was too busy immersing himself into his work to even bother with anything else.

  "Is that so……" Zhao Lifei trailed off, lost in her thoughts while she got into the elevator. The two remained quiet while she contemplated something inside of her head.

  Huo Qiudong did not bother striking up another conversation with her, especially because of that scheming smile on her face.